An artificial intelligence healthcare company has announced that its software can identify the extent of prostate cancer more accurately than medical professionals.
Avenda Health conducted a study last month involving ten doctors who each evaluated 50 different prostate cancer cases. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, while the physicians performing manual assessments recorded accuracy rates ranging from 67.2% to 75.9%.
The research, conducted in partnership with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also revealed that using AI to assist with tumor contouring predictions resulted in measurements of cancer size that were 45 times more accurate and consistent compared to traditional methods without AI support.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the senior author of the study, emphasized the benefits of AI assistance, stating that it improved both the accuracy and consistency of the doctors’ evaluations, leading to greater agreement among them.
Typically, doctors rely on MRI scans to assess tumor size; however, some tumors cannot be detected by MRI, according to Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He noted that AI is particularly beneficial in cases where MRI fails to provide adequate information.
Dr. Brisbane also mentioned that the integration of AI in cancer treatment has the potential to enhance patient care by allowing for treatments that are more individualized and effective in combating the disease. He further asserted that AI technology can transcend human capabilities in certain contexts.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed his enthusiasm for the validation of such innovations through research and recognition from the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the illness. This year, an estimated 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer are expected in the U.S., with 35,250 projected deaths resulting from the disease.